He eased his large frame to one side, and, leaning over her, he gently stroked a few strands of hair from her wet brow. ‘All right?’
Her lips parted in a slow, wide smile. ‘Never better.’ She sighed, her brilliant blue eyes lingering on his darkly flushed face.
‘Lisa, I…’ Alex hesitated, his eyes widening on her delicate features almost in surprise. ‘Meeting you was the luckiest day of my life,’ he said huskily, and she had the distinct impression he had meant to say something else.
Midday Saturday, Lisa, hot and tired, gratefully took the hard hat off her head and handed it to Alex. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing the minimum of clothing—brief white shorts and a sleeveless shirt knotted under her breasts—but still she had to wipe the perspiration from her brow. ‘Do you visit all the construction sites your company is involved in?’ she asked. ‘It must take an awful lot of your time.’
‘No.’ Alex handed the hats to his site manager and said something in Greek, then, catching Lisa’s hand in his, he added, as they walked off the building site, ‘I employ a very efficient staff to do it for me. But as I was born here I do take a particular interest.’ They had reached where he had parked the car and after opening the passenger door for her he walked around to the driver’s side, and stopped when he saw she had not got in the car. ‘Something wrong?’ Not waiting for her answer, he tagged on, ‘Sorry if you were bored.’
‘Not bored. The view alone is incredible; the complex is bound to be a success.’ She glanced at Alex. The blue cotton shirt fitted tautly across his broad shoulders, the first few buttons open to mid-chest. His black hair shone sleek as a raven’s wing in the brilliant sun, and somehow, over the past few hours, he’d seemed more Greek to her than before. Looking at him, so cool while she was melting, she decided to get her own back.
‘But you did promise we could go for a swim, Alex.’ The maid had woken them that morning with a breakfast tray. She had set it on the table on the balcony and quickly withdrawn. They had made love for the fourth time. Then, when Lisa had been trying to get dressed, with a lot of interference from Alex, he had suggested she put her bikini on under her clothes and they could go for a swim later.
‘So I did,’ Alex drawled, a reminiscent smile curving his firm lips. ‘But do you really want to join the tourists on the beach?’ She eyed the wide sweep of Paradise Beach and the sparkling sea, a smile curving her generous mouth, her eyes gleaming with mischief as they met his over the top of the car. Sophisticated, arrogant Alex on Paradise Beach with hordes of tourists held great appeal. ‘Yes, why not? It’s so hot I’ll melt.’
They spent the next half-hour playing like children in the warm clear waters, and then they dried off in the sun. Later still they returned to the villa and went to bed for a siesta, at Alex’s instigation, insisting it was the Greek thing to do!
A sigh of pure pleasure left Lisa’s lips as she sat down on a comfortable padded chair, one of two, set either side of a small table on the balcony of their suite and looked around her. Alex was downstairs talking with his mother. Apparently his mother had arranged a party for them tonight—a delayed wedding reception and a chance for Lisa to meet friends from his boyhood, she had said.
Lisa had left them talking and now, having showered and changed into a plain blue satin slip dress, she opened her laptop on the table in front of her and began composing an E-mail to send to Jed later. Enthusiastically she described the island, the history and the beauty of the place, and she smiled to herself when she thought of how green with envy Jed would be when he received it. Poor Jed had never been outside his state, let alone his country.
That was how Alex found her, smiling to herself, her fingers racing over the keys.
‘Now who is working?’ Alex prompted as he sat down opposite her, placing two glasses and a bottle of champagne on the table. ‘And I was hoping to seduce you with champagne.’
‘I wasn’t working; I was writing to a friend,’ she said simply, raising humorous eyes to his.
‘A friend?’ One dark brow arched quizzically.
‘Yes, Jed.’ She returned her attention to the keyboard. ‘Usually I write down all the things I’ve been doing of interest. I compose my E-mail off-line and send it later, which is much more economical.’ She didn’t see the dark frown that creased his brow, or the slight narrowing of his deep brown eyes.
‘Forget the economics.’ Alex reached out a hand and brushed the back of her hand. ‘Close that, and join me in a glass of champagne before the rabble arrive.’